A year after his last fight, Conor McGregor returned to the octagon to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Although he defeated his previous opponent Cowboy Cerrone, McGregor didn’t live up to his own expectations and lost the fight.
On Saturday night (Jan 23), McGregor and Poirier hit the ring. The Irish fighter was able to hold it down in the first round. Once they entered the round, Poirier dominated and eventually knocked out McGregor after multiple punches and a sharp right hook. The image of McGregor’s defeat was immediately shared on social media, which led to the birth of a new meme.
Minutes after he hit the floor, the jokes began to fill up Twitter timelines everywhere. Conor McGregor was eventually photoshopped into an array of hilarious photos. Some of them made McGregor look like he was sleeping in strange places like Spongebob’s bed. Others featured the mixed martial artist and Nate Robinson, who was knocked out by Jake Paul in a match-up last month.
“To my coaches, trainers, fans, and teammates, I appreciate all of the time and support you guys put in with me,” Nate said about the fight. “It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to fight on the biggest stage that there has been #holdat.”
The Internet trolls also managed to work include Chairman Sanders a.k.a Bernie Sanders into their memes. Some images showed cold Bernie grappling with McGregor while he’s on the ground. Others put McGregor sleeping in a hospital bed with Bernie sitting close by. All of them were just as comical as Bernie’s original meme from Inauguration Day.
After the fight, McGregor accepted the loss and congratulated Poirier. He also admitted that he wasn’t “as comfortable” as he should’ve been going into the fight. Regardless of how he treats Poirier, McGregor won’t be able to escape the memes for a while. Check out some of the reactions from Twitter below.